What games are you playing right now?

Discuss whatever you'd like with the Infinitap Games community here!
User avatar
matt
Posts: 2316
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:48 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by matt »

I haven't gotten that far in Black Plague, but I think it's much better. I enjoyed the Silent Hill-esque nightmare world although the puzzles there seemed really challenging. Moving barrels on random circles? Fortunately, I had my trusty walkthrough handy. heheheh

Broken Age is totally awesome. While I had to use a walkthrough on a few things (embarrassingly I couldn't get the knife at the VERY beginning... I kicked myself when I read the solution), they really made a "modern" adventure game, which is a tall order. My only complaint was sometimes the objectives weren't really clear like in cloud city. I had to use a walkthrough for a bit of that because I didn't know what I was doing. hahah
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
ranger_lennier
Posts: 250
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:37 pm

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by ranger_lennier »

I've spent the last couple of days playing The Stanley Parable. It's a really clever and funny game. It's over in a few minutes if you do exactly what you're told, but if you try to mess with the narrator, you can get to all sorts of weird places. I think I've managed to get all of the endings now, except for one where you have to press a button for four hours. I'm glad someone else did that and uploaded the important parts to Youtube.
User avatar
miumiaou
Posts: 210
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:21 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by miumiaou »

I love the Stanley Parable (especially comitting suicide ingame to irritate the narrator)
User avatar
matt
Posts: 2316
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:48 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by matt »

The Stanley Parable is super brilliant.

Davey gave me an early build of the game, and when you went to save the game, it crashed. I had to ask him if that was a bug or deliberate. hahahah
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Harry Sunderland
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:27 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by Harry Sunderland »

I've been playing Saints Row 4 and Soul Fjord lately.

Soul Fjord is the Ouya exclusive released by Kim Swift's Airtight Games. On the whole, I enjoy the game. I think it's well made and could serve as a gold standard for what kind of awesomeness can be done with the most neglected console. Mixing rhythm based combat with roguelike dungeon crawling is interesting. It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite RPG's, Mother 3 (which also had rhythm based combat).

However, I'm starting to "Go Gilgenbach" in my attitude with games lately. By this I mean that Matt's comments have inspired me to grow weary from difficult games...and the permadeath of Soul Fjord can be very disheartening...especially when you're at the last section of the game and your Ouya controller lags out and causes you to die.

It's a great game, and maybe I'll find the strength to try to beat it again soon, but I was really kinda bummed after that. My hobby shouldn't bum me out!

I often let my pride get in the way, but I just need to embrace the Gilgenbach lifestyle and set my games on easy just to have a good time!
User avatar
matt
Posts: 2316
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:48 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by matt »

Hahaha! I wasn't always this way. Back in maybe like 2004 or something, Jak 2 was the "tough" game to beat that gives you bragging rights. I managed to suffer through it, so I could seem cool to my co-workers. However, I realized that it was like 18 hours of misery, so maybe playing games for bragging rights wasn't the best usage of my time. hahah

While I think Soul Fjord is pretty awesome, I stopped playing it early on for another reason - it reminds me too much of Retro/Grade. It seems ridiculous, and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm not sure I can play rhythm games anymore... They just remind me of the epic (financial failure) of my poor baby. It makes me sad because I really love rhythm games, but I don't think I can enjoy them... :(

Well, I take that back. I will probably play Samba de Amigo with my sonar maracas for the Dreamcast again. That game is so happy that I don't think I could ever NOT enjoy it.

Even still, with the permadeath of Soul Fjord, I probably wouldn't enjoy it. It is a really clever designed game though, and I love the art.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Harry Sunderland
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:27 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by Harry Sunderland »

8 months ago I bought a used copy of Silent Hill: Downpour. I played it briefly, and was so sad that I put the game away for a very long time. Finally, this weekend, I swallowed the bitter pill and played the game from start to completion. I did so because I'm a total Silent Hill Fan Boy (hence the name Harry Sunderland --> Harry Mason + James Sunderland).

And I must say, the experience was interesting.

On the whole, the game was a very far cry from the glory days of Team Silent. While there were honestly some very good horror moments in the game, on the whole, the game just did too many things that I was not feeling.

On the one hand, the game toned down the "Super Soldier Killing Machine" combat mechanic of Homecoming. This was kind of welcomed, in the sense that combat kind of sucks now. This gives a bit of a horror incentive for me personally, in that I actively run from the monsters. But not because they frighten me, but because the combat sucks so bad the thought of engaging in the game's combat engine frightens me. :)

However, the last segments of the game force you into several combat situations. This was totally not cool, and was not even scary. It just felt like the game ran out of ideas, so to make it longer they forced you to fight some monsters so you could progress.

The game also has a chase-sequence mechanic that is slightly better than Shattered Memories chase scenes. For any of you who have played that game, you should know that this is not a positive comment.

Also, this game had a very open world, with side missions and all that crap. I didn't do any of them, and the reason why is because you still move slow as heck (even when running), and the game makes it painful to traverse the open world. Plus, the game just wasn't fun enough to make me want to do the optional quests. There is even an optional "subway system" to fast travel across the map, but I didn't care enough about the game to figure out how to unlock it.

The plot itself wasn't terrible, and I honestly found myself engaged in the game's cut scenes and documents hidden throughout the levels (even though some of the voice acting is awful). Some of the environments are very well made, and the scares have their moments. Honestly, if it weren't for some of the huge design flaws, it could be a salvageable game.

I don't regret playing it. I love Silent Hill and all it's lore, but I certainly am glad to be done with it. I really hope the rumors about Hideo Kojima taking over the series are true, and that he can restore one of my favorite series back to a shadow of its former glory.
User avatar
RightClickSaveAs
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 4:22 pm

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by RightClickSaveAs »

Have there been any Silent Hill games in the last several years that feel like a return to form, even if it's just a little bit? I haven't kept up with them at all, it just hasn't seemed like there's anything worth checking out.

I've jumped back into Dark Souls, because I just haven't had enough misery in my game playing experience lately, not since I quit World of Warcraft anyway. Seriously though Dark Souls is just... compulsively playable somehow, in a way I haven't found in many games. I find it really rewarding to explore, the level design is really well done in that regard, and there's a big sense of accomplishment when you manage to make progress. Every upgrade and level you gain feels meaningful.

Turns out that Games for Windows Live ate my save somehow (I didn't do any backups because I figured "why bother? it's all saved online for me!) So, I had to start over.... but it'd been a while anyway. And that kind of fits in perfectly with that whole Dark Souls experience. I was "only" 20 hours in with my old save!

Also I finished up Bioshock Infinite finally. That was a weird game, it felt like they were trying to do too much. There's this big sweeping story, but it's crammed in with all these fast paced shooter and very simplified RPG weapon upgrade mechanics, which took a lot away from the storytelling. It's really hard to have an emotional plot point moment after you just slaughtered a whole room full of people with crazy genetically modified superpowers.
Harry Sunderland
Posts: 236
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:27 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by Harry Sunderland »

RightClickSaveAs wrote:
Also I finished up Bioshock Infinite finally. That was a weird game, it felt like they were trying to do too much. There's this big sweeping story, but it's crammed in with all these fast paced shooter and very simplified RPG weapon upgrade mechanics, which took a lot away from the storytelling. It's really hard to have an emotional plot point moment after you just slaughtered a whole room full of people with crazy genetically modified superpowers.
I agree, I also didn't like that a lot of the plot was hidden as collectable audio tracks. There were some major plot points that I straight up had to wikipedia because I missed the audio recordings. And even the ones I did find, it was hard to pay attention to an audio file while simultaneously playing the game, and I certainly didn't want to stop and just listen (even though that may have been the best idea.

I enjoyed the game, despite the dissonance between the plot and the constant shooting people in the face. Great environment, and I genuinely had a lot of fun.

As for your original question about Silent Hill, I would say the closest to a return to form, in my opinion, would be Silent Hill Origins (which was released for PSP but ported to PS2). While it's kind of aggravating at parts, I enjoyed the game. I also liked Silent Hill Shattered Memories, but the chase sequences are awful. I hear it's funner on PS2 or PSP, but if you play it on Wii, get ready for some frustrating in game moments. The game is fun when it's "not" those scenes, in the sense that it's really more of an interactive novel (similar to Gone Home a bit).

I was not a big fan of Homecoming or Downpour. They both had redeeming qualities, but if you're a fan of SH 1-4, I don't think either of them hold a candle to their glory.

I want to play Dark Souls very badly. I got it during the Steam Sale. It's in my line-up to play, after I finish Assassin's Creed Revelations and Tomb Raider. I'm trying to make a commitment to dent my backlog these days :p.
User avatar
matt
Posts: 2316
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:48 am

Re: What games are you playing right now?

Post by matt »

As much as I love Silent Hill, I think the latest ones have been pretty underwhelming. I haven't played Downpour though, but it got pretty lackluster reviews.

I think Games for Windows is dead, which might explain why your save is lost as well. Microsoft really bungled GFW unfortunately. At least they are giving up. If only EA would give up on Origin... hahahah

I actually found Bioshock Infinite offensive. I felt like it had a very strong anti-Christian message if you read between the lines. When I was playing it, I was pretty enthralled by the story up until the ending (which was pretty nonsensical), but I thought the gameplay was not very good. The shooting mechanics was subpar, they didn't have interesting enemies, the setups were all just enemies thrown at you, and they added the store and money mechanics, which were completely superfluous. I agree that the violence seemed to be at odds with the story - especially shoving the rail grabber thingy in people's faces...

I'm working on Penumbra: Black Plague and played the Titanfall beta this weekend. I'm looking for a good co-op game to play with my wife. Maybe I'll start up another off topic post for that. :)
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
Post Reply